KURE BEACH — More than two dozen organizations statewide are participating in the North Carolina Bird Count and one local venue is hosting an event.
On Friday, Feb. 14, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (NCAFF) will welcome the Great Backyard Bird Count, with its environmental educators encouraging people to join the count and earn an NC Bird Count badge.
Activities are planned throughout the day that will assist scientists on information-gathering on birds, with the goal to help in their conservation.
The NC Bird Count is organized by Science Across NC and takes place Feb. 14-17.
“Birds are important species to observe, because healthy habitats for birds are also healthy homes for many other animals. Birds are also fun to watch, because they are usually easy to find and active throughout the year,” Sammy Calderon, NCAFF environmental educator, said in a release.
The event at the aquarium welcomes anyone who wants to participate. To do so, a free eBird account must be created first through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology ebird.org or the app. Once visitors are at the aquarium, they upload information on birds they see into the their account.
The bird count helps properly identify local bird populations, migration patterns and more.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the first-ever comprehensive assessment of net population changes in the U.S. and Canada shows declines, including 2.9 billion breeding adults in North America, as well as the loss of 1 billion birds in forests and a 53% decrease in grassland bird populations.
The local aquarium — accredited through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums — is a nonprofit dedicated to conservation, animal welfare, education, science and recreation. The team supports bird conservation through AZA SAFE: North American Songbirds (NAS), part of the AZA SAFE: Saving Animals from Extinction program.
SAFE NAS focuses on more than 300 species in the order Passeriformes that spend part of their annual cycle in North America. Songbird population declines in North America persist because of habitat loss, climate change, building collisions, and predation from outdoor domestic cats.
The aquarium suggests below to help protect songbirds:
- Use bird-friendly window treatments
- Turn off lights at night to reduce light pollution for migrating birds.
- Purchase certified Bird Friendly© coffee to preserve neotropical bird wintering grounds.
- Keep cats indoors to prevent predation of songbirds.
- Select grass-fed beef to help save grassland birds.
- Purchase certified sustainable paper products to help preserve the nesting grounds of boreal forest songbirds. Better yet, choose reusable items.
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